Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Why is a tip called a propina?

According to Wordsmith.org, A.Word.A.Day, with Anu Garg,
it's from Latin.  And the English version is propine, which I notice my computer underlines as an English misspelling and which I had never known before. 

"propine

PRONUNCIATION:
(pro-PEEN, PYN)

MEANING:
verb tr.: To gift, tip, or pledge.
noun: A gift or tip.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin propinare (to drink to someone’s health, to present), from Greek propinein (to drink first, to give), from pro- (for, before) + pinein (to drink). Earliest documented use: 1448.

USAGE:
“The priests of a neighbouring convent, in expectation of the ample donation ... which Cedric had propined, attended upon the car.”
Walter Scott; Ivanhoe; A. Constable & Co.; 1820." "